Essex County, Massachusetts — Farm Data

Essex County, Massachusetts reported 441 farm operations in the 2022 USDA Census of Agriculture, generating $36.7M in total commodity sales and receiving $432K in federal farm program payments. Net cash farm income for the county came in at $3.9M, which ranks the county #8 of 14 counties in Massachusetts by commodity sales. These are not sample surveys or rolling averages — they are the consolidated returns of every farm operation that NASS enumerators counted at the parcel level for the 2022 Census, the most comprehensive snapshot of US agriculture that the federal government produces.

Land use patterns in the county tell the deeper story. Of the 18,490 acres in agricultural land, 8,523 acres is cropland (46.1% of ag land), with the balance in pasture, rangeland, woodland, or farmsteads. Average farm size sits at 42 acres, a figure that signals whether the local industry is dominated by large commercial operations or by smaller family farms — a distinction that directly shapes which USDA programs flow into the county and how eligible operators qualify for conservation, insurance, and disaster assistance.

Reading county-level data correctly means placing it in context. Commodity sales and government payments move together but for different reasons: sales rise with favorable weather and prices, while payments rise when yields fall, prices collapse, or conservation enrollment expands. Use the state overview and neighboring-county links on this page to benchmark Essex County against its peers before drawing conclusions about farm health, land productivity, or subsidy concentration.